Stress is having a serious impact on worker productivity. A 2013/2014 Global Benefits Attitudes surveyconducted by global professional services firm Towers Watson found that employees who suffered from high levels of stress – 57 percent of the over 22,000 survey participants – have lower engagement at work, are less productive and have higher levels of absenteeism than those not operating under excessive pressure.

As it turns out, many companies already have received the message. Among the trends identified in the SpaFinder Wellness 365 2016 Global Spa & Wellness Trends Forecast is “Workplace Wellness Wakes Up.” SpaFinder Wellness 365 points out forward-thinking companies increasingly are realizing the importance of wellness on productivity and are creating “an all-encompassing environment that fuses company welfare to employee wellness.”

Considering the benefits of massage therapy in reducing stress, your spa or massage therapy practice has a good opportunity to partner with companies – large and small – to help workers feel better to boost productivity.

Start your corporate massage initiative by identifying companies where you have a contact who can introduce you to the head of Human Resources or operations to present your services. If the company already had a wellness program, free or subsidized on-site chair massage as well as sessions at your spa or massage practice can be a great addition. If a company isn’t focused on wellness, be prepared to discuss the benefits of massage, referencing research and even client testimonials to make your case.

Promoting massage internally

While many employees may be eager for your services; others may be reluctant especially if they are new to massage or if they have to pay part of the cost. Once you have your foot in the door, work with your contacts to introduce and promote your services. Some things you want to do include:

Create a handout: Develop a one page flier for the company to hand out to employees to explain your services and answer anticipated questions. For example, employees may not understand that you won’t be using lubricants and they don’t need to remove clothing for on-site chair massage.

Send out an email: Ask your company contact to send out an email about your negotiated services. Include links to your website and any social media channels where you promote your business so that employees can learn more about you.

Offer information for employee newsletters: Ask the HR department if you can provide information on massage for publication in the employee newsletter. Include research reports about the benefits of massage for relaxation, reducing stress and alleviating pain. You also may want to submit a piece on sports massage therapy.

Provide online booking: To make it convenient for employees to sign up, offer online booking.

Be flexible: Keep in mind that even when employees book something may come up to prevent them from coming to the session. You’ll need to be flexible, since work will always come first. You can try calling others scheduled for appointments for another day to let them know that a time slot has opened up.

Bring gift certificates: When you are on site, have gift certificates handy so that employees can purchase them to treat a friend or family member to a session.

Working with companies to boost their wellness programs through massage therapy can be a very lucrative extension of your business. It will take some work, but the potential for new clients, referrals and recognition within your community are well worth the effort.